Page 199 of Filthy Rich Santas

I look up at the attentive way they surround me, feelings pulsing through my chest.

“I love you,” I whisper, the words coming out before I can stop them.

As soon as I say it, I feel a flutter of panic. “I know it might be too soon to say that, but it doesn’t feel too soon. I’ve known you all for so long, seen what amazing men you are. After everything we’ve shared… I just… I love you. All three of you.”

I bite my lip, suddenly unsure, but then Beckett’s hand gently tilts my chin up.

“I love you too,” he rumbles, his green eyes intense. “You’ve broken down walls I didn’t even know I had. You’re the perfect counterpart to me, Lana. The softness to my hardness, the light to my darkness. I didn’t even know my life was missing anything before, but now I know that it was you all along.”

There’s no way I can doubt his sincerity, the depth of his emotion taking my breath away.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

His full lips tilt up in a tender smile. “You don’t ever need to thank me for loving you. It’s my privilege. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

I blink back tears as Ryder’s palm caresses my arm before he laces our fingers together and lifts my hand to his mouth.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for someone like you. Hell, I didn’t even know I was waiting. I was convinced I didn’t need anyone besides my best friends. They were the only ones I trusted enough to get close to. But this?” He moves our joined hands to his chest, right over his heart. “I’ve spent my whole life running from this feeling, convinced I’d never want it. But loving you turned out to be as easy as breathing, and just as fucking necessary for my survival. I love you, Lana Reeves, and that’s never gonna change.”

My heart swells, his words making me feel cherished. Wanted.

“I feel the same.” Tristan’s voice is quiet. “My grandmother always told me to wait for someone who makes the world brighter just by being in it. Someone who lights me up every time I see her. That’s always been you. It just took me a while to believe it was something we could actually have. But now that you’re ours, I won’t ever give you up.”

My eyes well up with tears, and he brushes one away, smiling at me tenderly.

“I love you, freckles. And I always will.”

Their declarations mean everything to me, their sweet words almost sounding too good to be true. And as much as I want them to be, I can’t help biting my lip as I worry that maybe, in the afterglow of the amazing sex we just had, they’re looking at me through glasses that are a little too rosy.

“Always is a long time,” I force myself to say. “What about my lupus? There might be days when I’m not… fun to be around. When I’m tired or in pain. That’s not going to go away.”

Tristan cups my face gently. “We want all of you. The good days and the bad.”

“Your illness doesn’t change how we feel,” Ryder adds, his voice firm.

Beckett nods, his eyes intense. “We’re in this for the long haul. Whatever comes. Don’t ever doubt that you’re perfect for us, just the way you are. We wouldn’t change a fucking thing.”

Their words wash over me, soothing my fears as warmth spreads through my chest, bringing with it a sense of complete acceptance I’ve never known before.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “You are… everything to me.”

“I couldn’t have said it any better, love,” Ryder says tenderly, giving me a soft, sweet kiss that Tristan and Beckett quickly repeat before cleaning me up and preparing us all for bed.

“I could really get used to this,” I say once the lights are out and I’m surrounded by their warmth and strength, all of us together under a fluffy down comforter subtly scented with pine.

“You’re going to have to,” Tristan murmurs, his arm draped over my waist.

Ryder’s hand rests on my hip, and Beckett’s fingers interlace with mine, as if all of them need to stay connected just as much as I do.

As their steady breathing lulls me toward sleep, I smile in the darkness, my heart so full I’m surprised my chest has room for it.

It’s not where I expected to be the night before Christmas. It’s so much better. Whatever Christmas day brings tomorrow, it’s already the best one I’ve ever had. Because I’ve already been given every Christmas wish I ever could have asked for.

47

LANA

I wake slowly,cocooned in warmth and the comforting weight of three hard bodies pressed against mine. As my eyes flutter open, I’m greeted by the soft morning light filtering through the curtains of Grandma Meg’s guest house. A quick glance out the window reveals a world transformed—a fresh blanket of snow covers everything, turning the landscape into a winter wonderland.

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